No matter what time of the day, from the morning hours to late night cramming for a mid-term, students are prone to indulging in a cup of coffee or two. As a coffee drinker myself, I’ll take a cup of joe around the clock. If I don’t have at least three to four cups a day I will come down with a massive headache. Fortunately, around campus there are six various sources to get regular coffee and among these six sources, there are three where you can purchase espresso coffee.

The question now is: Where can you find the best coffee on campus? The criteria of how each location is graded, for the sake of this article, on coffee taste, pricing, and atmosphere.
The Einstein Bagel Bros location has taken over as the main location to buy espresso coffee in the Stevenson Union. The old Noble coffee roaster location has been taken out, leaving Einstein’s to monopolize the SU. Upon its first few weeks of being open, the coffee itself is below average and tastes watered down. There isn’t much of coffee taste that goes along with the black coffee and the espresso isn’t much better. “Having a mocha is like having a warm cup of chocolate milk” claimed Sam Woods, “there’s no substance in their espresso at all.” The pricing is also high for the type of coffee they are selling. Five dollars is a lot to pay for espresso that tastes like take home hot chocolate. Einstein’s has great bagels, yet, the coffee just doesn’t match up to its potential.

When it comes to large volumes of watered down drip coffee on campus, there are plenty of options available for students. You can find these locations at the Hawk, Elmo’s, and the Landing. At the Hawk and at Elmo’s they serve Seattle’s Best Coffee which, in my opinion, is really bad coffee. It’s low grade coffee that doesn’t really taste like coffee at all, but you get what you pay for. In the Landing, they serve Starbucks drip coffee which is better than Seattle’s Best by far.

The Human Bean has some decent quality coffee over at the Hannon Library. The location itself is perfect for any student because it’s right there in the library. Inside the coffee shop, it’s a perfect place just to kick back, either by the open window or on a couch located in the back. If you don’t want to sit down inside the café, you can always take it back into the library for studying. The espresso is a little more on the sugary side but the coffee quality really compliments the drinks. Personally, I find the snowy mocha especially delicious and each drink is served with vanilla coffee bean on the side. The prices of each drink is very similar to Dutch Bros or Starbucks. It’s reasonable if you have the cash to pay four dollars for a sixteen ounce drink. Also, they do free fill-ups for Raider red cups and discounts if you bring your own to-go mug.
Case Coffee Roasters isn’t on campus, but, since its right across the street it might as well be. Case’s drinks are definitely top notch and ,since according to their website, they roast their coffee with high end beans from Ethiopia, Kenya, Columbia, and Guatemala, they should be. Inside, every piece of furniture is handmade locally here in Ashland and there is always a hip vibe walking in. Students, SOU faculty and others alike will come in and sit to get work down or just have a casual conversation.

The coffee is well done and the baristas behind the bar really know what they are doing. The only hitch is the pricing for each drink. For a mocha, it’s three dollars and fifty cents in a twelve ounce cup. Besides that, Case is a really good coffee bar to go to if you’re into high quality coffee. This for me, is the best place on campus to get coffee. It may come in smaller sizes but, I’m a man of quality over quantity and it tastes better than anywhere else in the city of Ashland.